Am Bratach No. 216
Numbers up at Invercharron The gods looked down kindly on the considerable turnout, as a slight drizzle at the time of the official opening caused people to pause and count their blessings as the rain clouds blew away, leaving a fine day. Though he had never before taken on the role of chieftain of a Highland games, broadcaster Mark Stephen carried out his duties in fine style, accompanied by his wife, Jeannie. In a speech that was witty and thoughtful, he began by poking some gentle fun at long-standing games announcer Iain Robb’s expense. “What I didn’t tell Iain,” remarked Mr Stephen, “is that I’m something of an amateur etymologist — I’m fascinated by the definition of place-names and personal names and Iain’s got a particularly fine example. Iain is from the Gaelic meaning ‘honest and hard-working’ and Robb is from the Pictish meaning ‘not terribly!’” Praising the beauty of the Kyle of Sutherland, he reminded people of the history. “If we’re not actually standing on the site of the battle,” he said, “we must be pretty close to it, but this is where the Duke of Montrose eventually met his Maker, or rather he was captured here and taken off to Edinburgh and executed. And, of course, this area had the Clearances. If you go to Croick Church — the Thomas Telford at Croick — there’s a lot of history here. Scotland’s heritage is being kept alive by events like Highland games, he said. “What you will see this afternoon, in terms of the heavy athletes – okay these games go back originally to 1888 – but it’s got a much, much longer history. What we’re doing here, effectually, would be the training for Scotland’s warriors once upon a time.” At which point the time honoured beating of the targe to the four points of the compass to the sound of rifle fire announced the opening of the popular event. The results of the competitions can be found here |